


Finally

by Tarlan



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Community: mcsheplets, Episode Tag, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-01
Updated: 2011-04-01
Packaged: 2017-10-17 10:41:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/176012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For twelve days Rodney haunted the gate room, hoping for John's safe return.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finally

**Author's Note:**

> Tag to _The Last Man/Search and Rescue_ \-- then goes AU!  
>  Written for **mcsheplets** prompt #78 Finally

For twelve days Rodney haunted the gate room, unable to resist the pull towards the Stargate whenever Zelenka had taken enough abuse and had kicked him out of the laboratory to rest, but sleep was elusive. Guilt clawed at his belly, making him feel physically sick at the thought that he might have been responsible for John's loss. What little sleep he gained was filled with nightmares of John suffering, calling out to him in desperation. He refused to believe that the changes he and Zelenka had made to the Stargate's operating system had erased John from existence, and despite Lorne's claim that he had seen John dial Atlantis, Rodney had not been able to rule out a dialing error.

He had spent two days on M4S-587, pulling apart the DHD in the hope of proving that John had been sent somewhere else, but as the days passed by with no word from John or from any of their allies, Rodney began to fear the worst. Either someone was holding John against his will or the DHD on whatever world he had ended up on was damaged in some way. It was the only explanation Rodney would accept.

He was in the control room above the Stargate when the unscheduled off-world activation sounded and Chuck announced it was John's IDC. His heart was racing even before he hurtled down the stairs with Sam, and it skipped a beat the moment John came through, his eyes locking on Rodney's for one moment before sweeping the interior of the gate room as if it was a sight he had never expected to see again.

"Rodney, you're a genius."

*****

Five days had passed since Rodney delivered Teyla's baby and they rescued her from Michael's hive ship along with the baby's father, Kanaan. John was out of surgery and still resting, Keller had started working on a way to return Kanaan to his former self, and Rodney was keeping his head down. Sam had gone, replaced by the IOA guy whose name escaped Rodney for the moment, but the man was demanding status reports on every project and on the city as a whole. Most of Rodney's people were ready to start a mutiny, and Rodney couldn't blame them in the least. The reports required were in depth, and Woolsey was making arbitrary decisions on which projects should continue and which should be shelved. So far Rodney had to defend dozens of projects that would seem a waste of resources to the untrained eye but would yield amazing results eventually. Admittedly, he didn't fight that hard for some of the other projects coming under fire, mostly because even he thought they were a waste of resources but he wouldn't trust the scientists in question with anything more vital. If anything, he hoped to send some of those so-called scientists back if they didn't show any real promise soon.

At the same time, he was still reeling from the knowledge that he had almost killed John, even if he had also saved him--or another version of himself had saved him, but as that other version was him then, yes, he had saved John. Rodney sighed. Temporal paradoxes were enough to give anyone a headache, even him.

Rodney sighed again as he sensed yet another person standing behind him, his shoulders slumping as he wondered what project Woolsey had axed this time.

"Take a ticket and wait in line with the rest," Rodney snapped as he spun his seat around, only to startle when he found Teyla with her newborn in her arms.

"Oh. Teyla. Um. How's..." he waved towards the sleeping infant.

"He is well, Rodney."

"Oh. Good. Good." He waited, confused at first by the raised eyebrow before jumping up and drawing over a second seat.

She inclined her head politely as she took the seat. "Thank you, Rodney."

"So." Rodney tried to look everywhere but at Teyla, seeing her raise her eyebrow whenever he glanced her way until, finally he rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "Yes, I'll admit I've not been in to see John, but he hardly needs me to provide him with entertainment. That's what you and his grunts are for."

"Rodney," she admonished, and he felt the guilt gnaw at him again. He looked away from her, not wanting to see the condemnation in her eyes.

He sighed again. "It was my fault." He glanced up and away again. "I changed the operating system and introduced the glitch that got him sent 48 thousand years into the future. I nearly killed him," he whispered.

"But you also saved him."

He winced. "Technically, it was the other McKay that saved him."

"No. He and you were the same person as the events unfolded in the other timeline. It was you who saved him. You never gave up looking for a means to bring him home, and it was this same strength of character that I relied upon too. I knew you would not give up the search for me too, even after losing John."

"But we didn't find you in time." He hated the quiver in his voice, aware that even his vivid imagination could never compare to what the other timeline Rodney must have seen when he entered Michael's facility. Though, at least the whole complex hadn't collapsed on that Rodney.

She reached out and touched his arm. "But you did not give up. It is all any friend could ask of another. You have no reason to feel guilt or shame."

She left soon after, leaving Rodney to mull over her words. Perhaps he had made a mistake but the other version of him had spent the rest of his life correcting it. With sudden determination, Rodney left the laboratory and headed down to the infirmary. He felt a moment of hesitation on the threshold, but then a nurse glared at him to either come in or go. The only occupied bed was behind the drawn privacy curtain, and Rodney hesitated once more before another glare had him scampering across the infirmary. He noticed the nurse leaving with a tray and peeked round the curtain's edge.

"Rodney!"

Rodney waved his fingers. "Hi. I thought I'd swing by and see how you were doing." He slipped into the enclosed area

"Really, because I was beginning to think you were avoiding me for some reason. If it's about the hair, then I lied. You did still have hair."

"I did?"

"Yeah."

"Huh!" He grinned, "My grandfather was a bald as a coot by the time he reached his fifties."

John smiled, sinking back down against the pillows that were piled up behind him, and wasn't that just typical, Rodney thought. Whenever he was laid up in the infirmary, he had to battle with the nurses for even one extra pillow and here was Colonel Flyboy with three.

"So. I'm here," he stated rather obviously.

"Finally."

Rodney bristled. "I'm a very important man, and there was a lot more on that crystal than the other version of me let on, and I still have huge sections of Michael wiki to parse through."

Instead of getting irritated, John continued to stare at him, still smiling softly. It was annoying.

"What are you? A Stepford Wife? Did Keller not give you enough oxygen during surgery?"

"Hey! I'm just remembering what you looked like twenty-five years older."

"Well, obviously I looked older but at least I still had my intellect...and hair." He grinned again at that thought.

"You looked good, Rodney. I..." John did that shy, licky thing that always made Rodney's stomach flip, but usually occurred when John was struggling with intimate emotions. John's hand went to the back of his neck, rubbing it awkwardly because of the pillows.

Patience had never been a strong point for Rodney. "Yes? You...what?"

John gave him a slightly irritated look. "I kind of liked it. Seeing you...old." Rodney blinked and shook his head in confusion but didn't get a chance to speak before John added, "I'd like to...stick around for the whole natural process."

"You want to grow old with me?"

John winced, "When I said I wanted to... What I meant was..."

"No, no, no. You can't take that back." Rodney grinned. "You want to grow old with me," he sing-songed. The words suddenly struck home. "Really?"

John looked guilty for a moment, looking towards the crack in the curtain as if searching for someone in the infirmary beyond, but Rodney hadn't heard anyone enter since his arrival. He watched as John's face set into an expression Rodney knew well. Rodney called it John's implacable, _this is what I want, and I'll shoot anyone who gets in my way_ face.

"Yeah. Really."

"WOW. I mean I'm both flattered and..."

The remainder of the sentence froze in his head because this was what he had wanted for years. This was the dream that he had allowed himself on only the rarest occasions, viciously pushing it aside as an impossible fantasy and trying, desperately, to focus on someone more obtainable instead. Someone like Sam and Katie. Before he could work up a thousand reasons why he shouldn't realize his dream, Rodney leaned in and kissed John hard, putting everything into the crush of lips before pulling back just as abruptly.

John's shock melted into a wide grin. Strong fingers latched onto the front of Rodney's jacket and dragged him back, and before their lips met in the second of what would be a lifetime of kisses, Rodney heard John whisper, "Finally."

END


End file.
